What are Feasts and Fasts?
In Anglican worship, the liturgical calendar serves as a guiding rhythm for the spiritual life of the church. It structures the year around the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, inviting believers into a cycle of remembrance, repentance, and rejoicing. Within this framework, the concepts of feasts and fasts play a vital role, offering opportunities for deeper devotion without overshadowing the principal celebrations of the faith. Whether you're a longtime Anglican or new to the tradition, understanding these elements can enrich your personal and communal worship.
The Liturgical Calendar: A Foundation for Feasts and Fasts
The Anglican tradition emphasizes a biblically grounded and historically rooted approach to time. As outlined in the 2019 BCP, "The Christian Year consists of two cycles of holy days. The first is the Paschal Cycle, which follows the lunar calendar and identifies the first Sunday after the full moon that falls on or after March 21 as Easter Day. (Easter Day cannot occur before March 22 or after April 25.) The season of Lent precedes Eastertide and the Season after Pentecost follows it. The second cycle, the Incarnation Cycle, follows the solar calendar and places our Lord’s birth on December 25 (Christmas Day) with the season of Advent preceding it. The season of Epiphany follows the twelve days of the Christmas season (Christmastide.)" (BCP 2019, p. 687). This dual structure ensures that worship aligns with both ancient Jewish practices and the solar year, fostering a holistic engagement with Scripture.
Sundays hold a central place, as "every Sunday is a celebration of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead" (BCP 2019, p. 687). They reflect the character of their seasons, beginning at sundown on Saturday, in keeping with biblical precedents. This weekly rhythm underscores the resurrection's primacy, while seasonal variations—such as omitting "Alleluia" during Lent—add depth to the observances.
Principal Feasts: The Core Celebrations
Before delving into lesser feasts, it's essential to distinguish them from the Principal Feasts, which take precedence over all other days. According to the BCP, these include: "Easter Day, Christmas Day, Ascension Day, The Epiphany, The Day of Pentecost, All Saints’ Day, Trinity Sunday" (BCP 2019, p. 688). All Saints’ Day may also be observed on the following Sunday. These feasts are non-negotiable, forming the backbone of the church year with specific collects, psalms, and Scripture readings. For instance, Christmas Day features readings like Isaiah 9:1-7 and Luke 2:1-14, emphasizing the incarnation (BCP 2019, p. 762).
Lesser Feasts: Honoring Saints and Sacred Events
Lesser feasts, often encompassed under the BCP's category of Holy Days (traditionally known as Red-Letter Days), provide meaningful, ways to commemorate key figures and events in salvation history. These may be observed in addition to the Principal Feasts: "The Circumcision and Holy Name, The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, Joseph, the Guardian of Jesus, The Annunciation, The Feasts of the Apostles, The Feasts of the Evangelists, The Visitation, The Nativity of John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene, The Transfiguration, The Virgin Mary, Holy Cross Day, Holy Michael and All Angels, James of Jerusalem, Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, The Holy Innocents" (BCP 2019, pp. 688-689). For a full list of Red Letter Holy Days, Anglican Optional Commemorations, and Optional Ecumenical Commemorations, see page 691 and following of the 2019 BCP.
These days honor apostles, evangelists, martyrs, and pivotal moments like the Annunciation or Transfiguration. The BCP notes that "Any of these feasts that fall on a Sunday, other than in Advent, Lent, and Easter, may be observed on that Sunday or transferred to the nearest following weekday" (BCP 2019, p. 689). This flexibility allows congregations to integrate them without disrupting the Sunday focus on the resurrection.
Here, it's important to define what "propers" are in liturgical context: A proper refers to the variable parts of the liturgy specific to a particular day or occasion, such as the collect (a short prayer), assigned Scripture readings, psalms, and sometimes prefaces or other elements, as opposed to the "ordinary" parts of the service that remain constant throughout the year. Propers for these lesser feast days often include tailored Scripture; for example, the proper for the Annunciation includes readings from Isaiah 7:10-15, Hebrews 2:5-18, and Luke 1:26-38, drawing worshipers into reflection on God's redemptive work (BCP 2019, pp. 697-698).
The purpose of these lesser feasts is to inspire faithfulness by recalling exemplary lives and divine interventions. In the Anglican tradition, saints are faithful Christians from history whose lives exemplify devotion to Christ and whose stories edify the church today. Unlike the Roman Catholic Church, which has a formal canonization process involving rigorous investigation of a person's life, verification of miracles attributed to their intercession, and ultimate papal declaration, Anglicans do not require such a process. Instead, commemorations are based on historical recognition, biblical significance, and inclusion in the church calendar, emphasizing their role as witnesses to the faith rather than as intermediaries for prayer.
Lesser feasts enrich weekday services or the Daily Office (Morning and Evening Prayer). For example, commemorating Mary Magdalene on July 22 might involve propers highlighting her witness to the resurrection, fostering devotion amid ordinary time.
ACNA's approach emphasizes biblical fidelity and historical continuity, aligning with its reformed catholic identity. Here, "catholic" refers to the universal church—the whole body of Christ across time, space, and denominations—not specifically the Roman Catholic Church, but the broader, historic Christian faith as expressed in the creeds. While the 2019 BCP provides the core calendar, the province has been developing supplementary resources, including a dedicated Lesser Feasts and Fasts book. As of August 2025, this resource has not yet been released, with development ongoing.
Principal and Lesser Fasts: Disciplines of the Faith
Fasting in Anglicanism is a spiritual discipline combining reduced consumption with prayer, self-examination, and acts of mercy. The BCP distinguishes between principal fasts—days of total abstinence—and lesser fasts, which are encouraged but less stringent.
Principal fasts are "Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, and Good Friday, the day of our Lord’s Crucifixion" (BCP 2019, p. 689). These are days of special devotion, marked by penitential rites. Ash Wednesday, for instance, includes propers with readings like Isaiah 58:1-12 and Luke 18:9-14, calling for repentance (BCP 2019, p. 740). Good Friday features solemn observances, such as propers with readings from Lamentations 3:1-36 and Luke 23:18-49 (BCP 2019, p. 744).
Lesser fasts encompass "The weekdays of Lent and every Friday of the year (outside the 12 Days of Christmas and the 50 days of Eastertide)" (BCP 2019, p. 689). Additionally, Ember Days (Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays after St. Lucy’s Day, the First Sunday in Lent, Pentecost, and Holy Cross Day) and Rogation Days (the three days before Ascension) may be kept as fasting days, focusing on prayers for vocations, agriculture, and industry (BCP 2019, pp. 689-690, 733). These observances encourage ongoing discipline, such as abstaining from meat or meals, paired with service and charitable acts. Propers for these days, where applicable, provide specific prayers and readings to guide the faithful in their penitence.
Lesser fasts integrate into daily life, promoting spiritual growth. For families, resources like The Liturgical Home series by Ashley Wallace encourage incorporating these rhythms at home, blending fasting with prayer and Scripture. This practice helps believers live out the Anglican commitment to a disciplined faith, rooted in Scripture and tradition.
Practical Integration
The 2019 BCP envisions a participatory liturgy where the Holy Eucharist is the principal service on Sundays and holy days (BCP 2019, p. 7). Lesser feasts and fasts enhance this, offering midweek Eucharists or Daily Office adaptations. Various publishers provide calendars that list these observances alongside the BCP's lectionary, aiding in planning.
Ultimately, these practices foster a disciplined, joyful faith. In a fast-paced world, embracing lesser feasts and fasts invites Anglicans to slow down, remember the saints as exemplars of faith, and draw nearer to Christ through intentional rhythms of celebration and discipline.